Coal-mining machine



Fatented Apr. l, l.

anni

JOHN QUIST, OF MYSTIC, IOWA.

Goan-MINING Macallan.

Application led May 2, 1921. Serial No. 466,049.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN QUis'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mystic, in the county of Appanoose and State of-IoWa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coal-htlining -Machinesg and I do declarethe following to be' a full,'clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates broadly to improvements in mining machines, being especially, although notvnecessarily designed for mining coal.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a machine of this type Which embodies a hollovv tubular cutter provided With openings and blades adjacent these openings for feeding the coal through the openings and into the interior of the cutter, wherein such material will be carried rear- Wardly by a screw conveyor which is arranged inside `of the cutter and entends beyond the inner end of the latter to a suitable place of deposit. y

Another object of the invention is to generally improve upon machines ofthis class by the provision of one of eXtreme simplicity and durability, which 'is practical, very effective in operation, and so constructed that each and every `part may be separated and removed separately for making repairs or replacing as desired. y l

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same; l

Figure l is a horizontal sectional vien7 With parts in elevation of a mining machine constructed in accordance with this invention.

fFigure 2 is an end elevational view thereo Figure 3 is av sectional view taken substantially on the plane of the line 3 3 of Fig. l.

Figure 4c is an elevational vieivofthetubular cutter.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken substantially on the plane of the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Figure 6 isa sectional view taken on the plane of the line 6--6 of Fig. l.

Figure 7 is a view like Fig. 5, 'disclosing a slightly modified form of the invention.

In carrying out the invention, I employ a two-part bearing l in which a guide sleeve 2 is rotatably'mounted, said sleeve being provided at its outer end with a flange 3 extending beyond the bearing, and its inner end eX- tending beyond the opposite side of the bearing and being equipped with integral gear teeth t which serve a purpose to be hereinafter described. The extreme inner end of the sleeve 2 is rotatably mounted in an opening in one of the sides of a supporting frame designated generally by the numeral 5. It is to be here stated that this frame, as is obvious, is to 'be mounted in any Way on the existing conventional type of mining machine. Referring again to the flanged end of the guide sleeve, it Will be seen that a hollow tubular tapered cutter 6 is bolted or other- Wise secured thereto as indicated at 7. Wvhile this cutter could be of some other construction, I prefer to use one which is open at its inner end and closed at its outer small end, this end being formed with a bearing opening 8 which serves a purpose to be hereinafter set forth. The cutter in addition to being constructed in this Way, is provided With a plurality of spirally arranged open-` ings 9 close to Whichl detachable blades l() are secured, it being obvious that when the cutter is set into rotation,these blades will dig the coal and force 'it'through the openings 9 into the interior of the tubular cutter. While on these cutting blades, I Wish to state that they may be secured to the cutter in any suitable Way. AIn the preferred form, the cutter is provided with integral slotted enlargements 11 and one end of the blades is inserted into the slots in the enlargements, being held in place by set-screws 12 which extend through'the enlargements as shown. This construction is extremely strong and rigid and prevents possible accidental displacement of the cutting blades.

As before indicated, after the material is fed through the openings 9 into the interior of the hollow cutter, it is carried rearwardly from the latter by means of a relatively longl tapered screiv conve-yor 13, the latter having a reduced end constituting a journal 14 Which extends into and is rotatable in the aforesaid bearing opening S. The rear or inner end of the screw conveyor extends beyond the guide sleeve 2 and is rotatably mounted in a suitable bearing in one of the sides of the aforesaid supporting frame as indicated at 15.

While it is not necessary, I prefer to rotate the hollow cutter and screw conveyor in directions opposite to one another. In carrying this out, I provide a combined spur and bevel gear 16 rigidly secured on a shaft 17 supported by one of the sides of the frame 5 and an L-shaped bracket 18 secured to the aforementioned bearing 1. A small bevel driving gear 19 imparts rota-- tion to the gear 16, it being understood that this gear 19 is driven from any suitable source of power, preferably from the mining machine on which my improved device is mounted. A plurality of gears 2O co-operate with the shaft 17 and screw conveyor 13 for rotating the latter in an opposite di` rection to the direction of rotation of the tubular cutter 6. It is hardly necessary to point out that the gear 16 co-operateswith the gear teeth 4 on the guide sleeve for imparting rota-tion to said cutter.

As before indicated, Fig. 7 discloses a slightly modified form of the invention, that is, it discloses a slightly different wayin which the cutting blades may be secured to the exterior surface of the tubular cutter. Referring to this figure, it will be seen that the cutter instead of being equipped with the enlargements 11, is smooth and the blades 10a are placed against the flattened surfaces 11a formed on the outer side of the cutter, these blades being held in place by set-screws 12a. This construction is less expensive than the construction disclosed in Figs. 4 and 5 and enables they blades to be quickly attached and detached and yet affords a fairly substantial arrangement.

The operation of the machine is asfollows: The machine is first moved close to the breast of coal and the motor or other source of power is set into operation to drive the gearing.' In so doing, the hollow tapered tubular cutter 6 is rotated in one direction, while the screw conveyor 13 is rotated in an opposite direction as already indicated.l AS the cutter is rotated, it feeds itself into the coal and the blades force the coal and other material through the openings 9 into the interior of the cutter. It is then obvious that the screw conveyor which is in operation serves to carry the coal and material rearwardly through the cutter and guide sleeve and deposit it on the ground or platform of the existing mining machine as desired.

Since probably the best results may be obtained with the construction and arrange ment herein shown and described, this is taken as the preferred embodiment. of the invention. However, slight minor changes coming within the scope of the subjoined claims may be resorted to.

I claim:

1. A mining machine comprising a hollow tubular cutter having openings therein and blades thereon adjacent the openings for feeding the material through the latter into the interior of the cutter, a screw conveyor in said cutter for removing the material, and means for rotating the cutter and conveyor.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1, said means serving to rotate the conveyor and cut-ter in opposite directions with respect to one another.

' 3. A mining machine comprising a sup# porting frame including a bearing, another and separate bearing, a drive sleeve rotatable in said last named bearing, a hollow cutter secured to and extending beyond the outer end of said sleeve, being open at its inner end and vclosed at its opposite end, said last end being formed with a central bearing opening, said cutter also being` formed with a plurality of holes and carrying cutting blades which are disposed adjacent the holes to feed the coal and other material through the latter into the interior of the cutter, and a relatively long screw conveyor extending into said cutter, having areduced part on its outer end constituting a journal rotatable in the aforesaid bearing opening at the outer end of the cutter, the opposite end of the conveyor extending beyond the inner end of said sleeve and being journaled in said first named bearing.

4. A mining machine including a hollow tapered tubular cutter closed at its outer end and provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced openings around its exterior, cutting blades arranged opposite the openings for feeding the cuttings therethrough, and a rotary conveyor in said cutter.

5. A mining machine including a tapered tubular cutter closed at its outer end and provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced openings arranged in a helical manner, said cutter being flattened at points adjacent the openings, a plurality of cutting blades, each blade being detachably con nected to the flattened portions of the cutter, the blades extending transversely with respect to the latter over the openings in Vspaced relation to feed the cuttings therethrough into the interior of the cutter, and a rotary conveyor arranged in the cutter for removing the cuttings therefrom.

In testimony whereof have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN QUIST. 

